R.A.H. Kamen Rider BLACK Review

I just got this yesterday and I am excited to review this for all of you who are waiting to get their hands on this set. This is my first RAH figure but I have been longing to get one for years now. I first decided to buy one way back in 2006 when they released RAH THE FIRST Ichigo, but somewhere in the back of my mind, I knew they were going to make a sequel to THE FIRST and figured out they probably will update Ichigo’s suit so I didn’t bother to get something that will eventually become obsolete.

So I waited and waited until finally news of my favourite Kamen Rider of all time was announced to be released this year in November, Kamen Rider Black!This legend needs no introduction so to save time I will just say I’ve been in love with Kamen Rider Black since I was child and finally I have a great figure of him to add to my collection.

For those of you who don’t know, RAH stands for Real Action Hero. It’s one of the premium lines released by Medicom. The basic gimmick is that they these figures are 12 inch and are meticulously sculpted to look exactly like the Rider from that respective show. For Kamen Rider Black, the upper body is mostly plastic while the legs are dressed in leather.

It comes in a beautifully designed box with a painted portrait of Kamen Rider Black. This is actually a sleeve and can be removed.

This is the actual box cover with actually more Shadow Moon than Black…hmm, but this also opens up revealing th figure inside. Once again I can’t stress this enough, this is beautifully pacakged!

Ok here it is! Its my first RAH, and as an SIC collector I’ve always been bugged by the excruciating task of unboxing a figure. Most of you should know it takes forever to get an SIC figure out of the box but this is not true for RAH. The cover isn’t even taped on and this toy is ready to be played with instantly!

So here are the basics:

You get the figure, which have the two antennas attached for you already. Seeing how this is probably one of the most expensive Rider Toy Line out there, it comes with extra antennas in case it breaks. I give them big marks for that!

There are six hands, its not a lot compared to other RAHs mainly because Black doesn’t have any weapons to hold and all. It comes with the generic fist, opened hand and some neat posing type hands with his two fingers stretched out.

And there is also a plastic stand to hold the figure up. Okay, one embarrassing moment that just happened to me like 10 minutes ago, uhh…the stand comes with two rings one small one and one large. The large one isn’t too big and this toy lacks an instruction manual so I’ve been using the large one to clip on to his waist. It fits somewhat perfectly and holds Black upright, even though he can stand on his own without much need for support but its better to have a stand in case he falls and breaks his antennas. But after leaving him to pose there for a while, the ring has been digging into the belt and causing some scars so I tried to adjust it up and it snapped. I was kinda angry but…hey, this is what happens when you are new to something I guess. Well there’s still the small ring and there’s no way it can clip on to his waist so I’ve been using it to hold him up by the thigh. (As can be seen in the pictures below)

So now what’s the verdict:

I really and I mean REALLY wanted to give this the gold plated 100% score (the one SIC Den-o got) before I bought this figure but I just can’t. It breaks my heart that something from Den-o is better than something from Kamen Rider Black!

But I am trying to be a fair toy reviewer here and I can’t be bias. So I will say it: “This toy really didn’t live up to my expectations.” I know this is my first RAH and the first one I actually got to touch and play with but this figure isn’t really disappointed me. Here is why:

Design: The design is great, don’t get me wrong. It’s show accurate, yes, but it’s nothing like how the pictures of the box shows it to be like. You might be saying, “Adrienzo, you got be kidding me of course the promotional pictures are better” but I say to you, most toys, SICs for that matter look as great or even better than the pictures on the box. I don’t know if its some camera trickery but the Blackon the box is a lot slimmer than the figure. He’s got a longer neck and just a different body shape similar to the one from the show. It’s a lot more life-like on the box while the figure is a tad less so. The actual toy is a bit chubby, which actually kind of reminds me of what Jiro Okamoto looks like now. This RAH actually depicts perfectly how Black would look like if Jiro Okamoto came back to don the Black suit.

No, its not a big flaw, that is why I took .5 of a star off but its something I was ticked off about.

Playability: My biggest disappointment of this figure is the lack of pose-ability this figure offers. The box once again deceives us with Black doing one of his many poses from the show. In reality, you can’t really pull that off with the figure. His arms can go up as high as John McCain’s and his elbow doesn’t bend much either. He can strike some nice pose though but with the help of camera angles it looks like he can do much more than he actually can. The leg joints are on par with those of one of the recent SICs but I can’t say the same for the arms. I’ve seen pictures of RAH Kabuto and he can do much more with his arms than Black. So I assume this figure downgraded itself because the designers picked a less flexible body. But I might be wrong (since I don’t have other RAHs to compare) so this is why it gets 4.5 stars.

Durability: Yes, even though I snapped the ring of the stand less than 24 hours of getting the toy, that’s just my fault. It’s not a demerit for the Durability factor but actually for Playability. There’s no instructions anywhere in this box. There’s a lot of neat pictures and a promotional notice for the upcoming RAH Shadow Moon figure but nothing about how I should use the stand.

The Durability is great though. The joints are stiff and even if the fabric gets stretched and creased once in a while it gives it a nice wear and tear effect that makes it look even more realistic. There’s one little thing that I did screw up with and that’s hisshoulder pads. They are Velcored on but I pulled one too hard and the Velcro detached itself from the shoulder pad. It’s not a huge thing because simple glue can stick it back together like normal.

Value: Full marks here. This is a lot cheaper than most of the other RAHs out there. I have no idea why. I thought it might be the lack of accessories but seeing how Kabuto is also very cheap and it has a gun and stuff while THE NEXT V3 also has nothing but is way more expensive I don’t really know why Black (atleastthe price I got it) is this cheap. And he is Black too, he’s sits among there with Ichigo and Nigo as the greatest Rider of all time. It’s just a must for any RAH collectors at any price.

Final Word: I can recommend this to RAH collectors and Black fans. I will warn those who never bought an RAH before and have only collected SIC for a living (like me). It’s not SIC but it is still great for what it is and what its worth. I know I’ve been complaining throughout this review but do check the score, it got a 95, it’s really a Masterpiece, just not a perfect one. I don’t think I need to write reviews to tell you how great something is because figures like these, it’s a given how awesome they are.

Really Final Word: If RAH Kamen Rider ZX is good enough for Kamen Rider Saga, then Kamen Rider Black is good enough for you. Show him who’s boss…or king…I mean.